Help! Severely infected oil glands... or something **GRAPIC PICS**

About a month ago I posted about a bantam chick with a swollen area around the oil gland on his butt. I thought it was getting better for a while, but it looks terrrible now.

This is what it looked like when we first noticed it.

Even worse, I have three other bantam chicks (about two months old) with similar symptoms. They have swollen places near their oil glands that look like the other one looked when I first noticed it. This these two, for instance, with their swollen and bare spots above their tail feathers.

I called every vet in my area, but unfortunately, none of them will look at chickens. I have put hydrogen peroxide on the worst one, but I don't know what to do. The worst one has become lethargic, and pretty much just lays there all the time. Does anyone have any ideas? Do I need to just put it out of its misery?

Working on our urban homestead with Hubby, 3 kids, a dog, 2 cats and a whole lot of chickens (shhh... don't tell the neighbors).

You have a feather picking problem. It is important to separate the birds who are showing raw areas to their own space so they can heal. Otherwise, the other birds will continue to eat them alive.

You will also want to identify why there is a feather picking issue. Most often it is a space problem. It can also be related to a nutritional imbalance and boredom. This is a hard habit to break, so quick identification and stopping the behavior is important.

Although they may very well be picking at the bad one now, I don't think it started that way.

On all of these chicks, those aren't feathers that were plucked out. They are feathers that never grew in when the rest of the feathers did.

They have plenty of space, they are in a very large coop where they have plenty of room inside and outside. As far as a nutirional balance, I feed them unmedicated commerial "grower" crumbles, which is supposed to be a balanced diet, but who knows? I have raised two other flocks on the same thing with no problems, though.

Should I try antibiotics to help the infection? Or are they too young?

Working on our urban homestead with Hubby, 3 kids, a dog, 2 cats and a whole lot of chickens (shhh... don't tell the neighbors).

no what I would do is put some oil on it
and oil the skin and sore good
you have some kind of feather mites working in yur building where these birds live
the oil will heal the sores and smother the mites

also you need to clean and paint the wood areas of the chicken house and knot holes or any areas where these mites crawl behind and breed and live

You will need some oil
here is what I always used
noxema, camphorated oil (in green bottle in drug store), cooking oil, olive oil
now with that oil take and pour and rub in liberally the oil to smother the mites and heal the sores

then have a gallon container to have seven5% dust to put on the oiled chickens spots this is very important also

this should be done twice a day and if one can lock the bird up so it can be treated liberally

It will take 6 weeks to kill the mites and one needs to clean where the mites live
basically the oil treatment is best as the oil smothers the mites and heals the sore legs

CLEAN THE CHICKEN HOUSE AND

then you need to get the mites where they live
take a gallon can and put 1 pt of cooking oil and 1 pint of keroseen and paint the roost poles
and all the cracks in the wood of the building
especially the knot holes if any are in the wood
these areas are where the mites live and breed
when not sucking the blood out of the chicken an making sores on its legs ( eventually the mites make a white type offal build up on the scaley leg)

then I would clean out the beding and start fresh by putting
a good layer of sevin 5% on the bare floor now put the new bedding back in the building

this will get rid of the mites and any lice living in the building
always do this so you can leave a window cracked that night
so fumes will escape

ALSO FEED THE BIRDS THIS
besure to feed the birds affected the
natural probiotic wet mash
each bird
3 tbsp of dry crumbles
6 tbsp of milk any kind
1 tbsp of yoguart
mix and feed twie a day till the bird is healed then once a week for life

Hmmm, I don't know. This problem started when the chicks were still in the brooder. It was a brand new brooder that we kept ourselves, and it wasn't kept outdoors at all. Unless the chicks had mites when we purchased them?

Working on our urban homestead with Hubby, 3 kids, a dog, 2 cats and a whole lot of chickens (shhh... don't tell the neighbors).

I don't know what started this problem, but at this point you are dealing with cannibalism, and you may not have a lot of luck trying to stop it.

Mites are almost universal. I suppose they could have come with them. Wild birds carry them, and exposure to a wild bird is not really out of the question. At my feed store, a local operation, new chicks are kept in a back storage area with plenty of outdoor access. I would not be surprised if wild birds could come in there and be a source for mites. Think about the birds living in the ceiling at any WalMart....

I would try treating for mites (Sevin dust) and then maybe a round of Corid, just in case it is related to cocci; this is not an antibiotic so would do no harm, even if it did not help. I would change them to medicated feed if they are not already on it. I would separate them til they healed to stop any further pecking (sounds like you only have 4; it could be worse, for the separating.) I would go to the FAQ forum here and read up on/review the pecking and feather picking threads.

I know this post is old, yet I want to tell you about Diatomaceous earth read about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth
We dust our chickens with it, put it on our garden. Diatomaceous Earth-Food Grade We got a 50 pound bag for $20.00 at our feed and seed store. It kills mites, and garden bugs, you can eat it like fiber aids. Best thing for your livestock, dogs, cats and plants.